There's been a rumor rippling through the internet all day that having bangs that fall in front of your eyes can give you a lazy eye. While it sounds more like something your jerk of an older brother would try to convince you of, this fear was actually sparked by a "leading Tasmanian optometrist" named Andrew Hogan, who told Australian tabloid the Daily Telegraph that lazy eye (aka amblyopia) can result when your vision is blocked by your hair:

If a young emo chap has a fringe covering one eye all the time, that eye won't see a lot of detail. And if it happens from a young age, that eye can become amblyotic.

Beware, all ye emo chaps! But actually, there's no need to beware, because this is total bullshit. MSNBC spoke with Dr. Leonard Press, an amblyopia specialist. He said, chuckling, "You mean the hair-over-the-eyes thing?" Yeah, it turns out that amblyopia, which is actually a serious eye problem, only really appears in young children. It needs to be corrected before they're about seven, or it becomes very difficult to change. But once we've reached age seven, our brains and eyes are pretty much trained to see the way they see. So, if you made it this far being able to see out of both eyes, blocking one partially with your bangs is not going to make your vision disappear. The only way it would be a problem is if someone was very young and had their eye completely blocked all of the time. So, I guess the lesson is this: mamas don't let your babies have incredibly thick side bangs that block one eye 24/7. Otherwise, you're in the clear to get as emo as you wanna get without either of your eyes giving out on you.